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Analysts stand by Apple stock recommendations after recent declines

As Apple's stock has dropped more than 10 percent in recent weeks in the face of negative headlines, Wall Street analysts still remain confident in recommending investors to buy in.

Analyst Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee sought to calm investor fears on Tuesday with his latest note, which acknowledged negative stories about Apple in the news lately. He said he has been receiving a number of inquiries from investors as to whether recent issues, including a rumored-but-denied protest at a Foxconn plant in China and lens flare issues with the iPhone 5 camera, have affected demand of the iPhone 5.

"From our latest supply chain work, we have not picked up a drop-off in demand and production appears to be improving with the bottleneck moving from components (like the in-cell touchscreen) to the assembly of the iPhone 5 itself," Wu wrote.


AAPL's recent stock performance, via Yahoo Finance.

He said wait times of 3 to 4 weeks are currently being driven by "overwhelming demand" that Apple is seeing for the iPHone 5. He remains comfortable with his forecasts of 27 million iPhones sold in the September quarter, with the company on pace for a record breaking 46.5 million handsets in the December quarter.

Brian White with Topeka Capital Markets also on Tuesday noted that Apple is the "one bright spot" seen by component suppliers. White is currently on a tour of technology companies and suppliers in China and Taiwan.

White did note that the supply chain is still struggling with poor yields of both the iPhone 5 and the rumored "iPad mini." The suppliers White spoke to have not indicated that demand for the iPhone 5 has decreased since its launch last month.

He sees iPhone 5 shipments reaching between 32 million and 40 million in the December quarter. White originally forecast between 40 million and 50 million units, but apparent continuing yield issues are expected to hold back shipments through the holidays.

"Keep in mind, the iPhone 5 has only ramped in 31 countries but Apple has previously discussed a target of 100 countries by year end," White noted. "Thus the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S are still selling in these other countries."

The latest data from iFeng found that two the two top selling smartphones during China's Golden Week holiday were the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 4. Apple's market dominance continues even with the iPhone 5 rumored to launch in mainland China in December.

Optimism surrounding Apple was expressed by both White and Wu on Tuesday as the company's stock continued its slide. As noted by CNBC, AAPL has fallen more than 10 percent from its record closing price of $702.1 on Sept. 19.